Wine: Storing It Right, Serving It Well

Wine – the heady culmination of fermentation of grapes – is nothing less than sunshine mixed with water, as per Galileo Galilei. Amid the crisis of Covid-19 when everything is facing the brunt of lockdown, home storage of your wine is something that needs due attention, notwithstanding the shutdown of liquor shops.

How to Store the Wine?

A vast cellar filled with dusty bottles of priceless vintage Bordeaux – this is what the idea of wine storage evokes. Wine stored in inadequate & inappropriate conditions deteriorates rapidly.
However, for anyone owning few bottles of wines, here are some tips on wine storage:

• Store the wine horizontally so as to keep the cork moist. A dried, & thus loosened, cork allows air to seep into the bottle which accelerates the oxidation of wine.
• Bottles with screw-top closures or plastic corks, as well as sparkling wines (which keep corks moist due to pressure inside the bottle) can be stored vertically. Still, horizontal storage is more apt.
• Corrugated boxes or wooden crates are best containers to store wines bottles. These boxes protect the bottles from direct light and also breakage.
• To store more than few bottles of wines on a given time, you may consider having a consumer-grade wine cooler to increase & preserve the longevity of your wines.
• Although horizontal storage benefits the wine’s life, champagne and sparkling wines age better when they are kept upright.
• DO NOT store the wines in kitchen! There is huge fluctuation in the temperature in your kitchen which can make your wine lose its flavor and aroma.
• Package the light bodied wines in dark or tinted wine bottles, as they are more sensitive to light.

Where to Store the Wine?

• Basements are the ideal places for storage, second only to dry, cool, and dark corners like inside a big closet, basement, a spare room, or under the stairs. Ideally, your wine should be stored in a cool place (45-65°F), and not cold place. Too much cold will cause the wine to form crystals (tartrates).
• Temperature above 70°F will affect the wine’s flavor and longevity. Remember, white wines and sparkling wines require a lower temperature than the reds. Choose a location accordingly.
• Humidity should be between 50-80% (greater humidity causes mold) and the surroundings should be dark i.e. room should have the least light.
• Your wines should be stored in a place of least disturbance & vibrations. If you have a number of wine bottles, then you may consider storing your wines in a wooden pigeonhole cupboard, with wines that require aging (fortified wines) kept at the bottom and those to be consumed soon (regular wines), at the top.

Regarding Serving the Wine

Now that you’re prepared to store the wine, let’s get on to some precautions to be taken while serving the delicacy.

• The wine’s contact with air should be bare minimum to prevent wine’s oxidation and retaining of its flavor. Keeping the bottle close to the rim of the glass while pouring prevents its unnecessary exposure to air.
• A bottle half filled with wine must be secured with a wine bottle stopper & then stored in a refrigerator for no more than 3 days (for white wines) & 5 days (for red wines).
• A wine labelled ‘Table Wine’ is obviously not for long term storage beyond few days. Savor it with your family & friends preferably soon.
• The lesser the wine in a bottle, the faster it will oxidize. So, enjoy it all, the sooner the better.

Recommended temperatures for serving different types of wine:

1. White: Chilled (10-13°C)
2. Rose: Chilled (10-13°C)
3. Sparkling: Well chilled (6-8°C)
4. Sweet red: Well chilled (6-8°C)
5. Red: Lightly cooled (18-20°C)

Whether you’re planning to store wine as briefly as a few days or as long as a year or two, the above mentioned suggestions apply. If you’ve invested in bottles that you plan to allow to age for several years, consider investing in a professional storage system for increased longevity of your precious wine collection.